[Yamanaka Flower Shop]
Yamanaka Rino looked at the group of girls clearly charging in with momentum at her shop entrance and didn't know whether she should let them in.
"Aunt Rino, we heard Ino got hurt during this mission, so we came to check on her."
Sakura had already switched to a worried expression.
The other girls did the same.
Yamanaka Rino: "..."
She didn't know how to answer.
As an adult, how could she not understand what these girls were thinking?
They were saying they came out of concern for Ino's health. She really couldn't find a proper reason to refuse them.
But if she just let them in, then Ino…
"Ahem! Ino isn't feeling well and is still sleeping, so…"
Just as Yamanaka Rino was about to use Ino resting as an excuse to gently refuse them, Tenten suddenly looked up toward the second floor and waved.
"Ino! We're here to see you!"
Yamanaka Rino looked up as well and caught a flash of blonde hair disappearing in an instant.
"..."
She couldn't help rubbing her forehead.
'That unlucky child. Can't she even pretend to be sick properly while lying in bed?'
"Aunt Rino, it looks like Ino is already awake," Sakura reminded her softly.
"Come in."
Seeing that Ino had basically walked into the trap herself, Yamanaka Rino could no longer stop them.
Still, she gave one last warning.
"Ino really isn't in good condition right now. You mustn't be too noisy."
Although the girls looked aggressive, they were all sensible children. If they saw that Ino truly wasn't feeling well, they probably wouldn't make things too difficult for her.
After all, she had watched them grow up.
She knew them well enough.
It was just that they had all ended up in the hands of the same scumbag.
Thinking of that, Yamanaka Rino sighed helplessly.
"We understand."
Hearing her say that, the girls began to suspect that Ino might not be faking after all, and they nodded obediently.
Then they filed inside.
———
Upstairs, in Ino's Bedroom—
Ino had only gotten up to peek because she heard the noise downstairs and couldn't resist her curiosity.
She hadn't expected Tenten to catch her red-handed.
Frightened, she quickly dove back into bed.
But it was already too late.
As Sakura and the others entered the flower shop and made their way upstairs, the steady sound of footsteps echoed outside her door, making her more and more nervous.
Yet when the footsteps reached her door, everything suddenly went quiet.
Ino gripped the edge of her blanket tightly, swallowed nervously, and only then did she hear the doorknob turn.
The door opened a crack, and a red head popped in, looking toward Ino lying on the bed.
"Ino, we're here!"
"..."
Ino felt that Karin was deliberately trying to scare her, but honestly, Karin had no talent for that.
"Karin, what's up?"
Ino said weakly.
This time, she wasn't pretending. After last night, she truly hadn't fully recovered.
"Hm?", Karin blinked.
As a fairly skilled medical ninja, she could easily tell from someone's voice whether their weakness was fake.
And then there was Ino's complexion.
She looked completely drained.
"Ino, you're really hurt?"
Karin stopped teasing and quickly pushed the door open, walking in.
Behind her, Sakura, Tenten, Hinata, Yakumo, and Temari followed.
They all looked at Ino curiously.
The once spacious room suddenly felt small.
Being stared at by all of them at once made Ino feel embarrassed. She explained briefly,
"I'm not injured. I just overexerted myself, so I'm a bit weak."
"..."
They were speechless.
Finally, Sakura stepped forward, green chakra swirling around her hand as she placed it on Ino's forehead and began examining her body.
Sakura had the best medical skills among them.
As the examination continued, Sakura's expression grew increasingly strange.
First of all, it was clear that Ino had already done it with Aoba.
The difference between a girl and a woman was quite obvious physically.
Ino was no longer a girl.
As for why she was this weak, it might really be because she wasn't very capable.
"Sakura, how is Ino?"
Unable to contain her curiosity, Tenten asked.
Sakura glanced at Ino, who was looking at her innocently, then pulled Tenten and the others aside to whisper among themselves.
"?"
Ino stared blankly at the group that had suddenly abandoned her and begun whispering.
From the looks of it, Sakura and the others probably weren't going to make things difficult for her.
Aoba's so-called self-inflicted trick had really worked.
Just as Ino felt secretly pleased, the girls finished their discussion and turned to look at her with strange expressions.
"W-What?"
Ino didn't understand why they were looking at her like that. Were they still planning to beat her up even in this condition?
"Ino, you're really useless," Karin said bluntly.
"Huh?", Ino was even more confused.
"You need two whole days to recover after doing it once. Of course that's useless. Back then Temari could still run around and hide, and I couldn't even catch her."
Seeing her confusion, Karin pushed Temari, who had been trying to stay in the background, to the front.
"..."
Temari couldn't help laughing awkwardly.
She hadn't expected that despite trying so hard to lower her presence, she would still get dragged out by Karin.
Ino immediately understood what Karin meant by "useless," and her face turned red with embarrassment.
"That's different! I had special circumstances!"
"Oh? And what were your special circumstances?"
"I… I…"
Ino couldn't say it. She couldn't exactly admit she had done it to make the self-inflicted trick convincing.
"Anyway, it was special circumstances. And Aoba said I was already very impressive."
"Hah! Aoba was obviously comforting you. He must've said something like, 'It's okay, Ino, you did great,' right?", Yakumo mimicked Aoba's tone.
"That's not what he said!", Ino puffed her cheeks slightly, feeling deeply insulted.
"Hmph! Even if you were the first among us, aside from Temari, to get a taste, you'll definitely rank last from now on. You'll only be the one pushing from behind."
"..."
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